Fact Check Wissel Recall Statement

Many citizens of Park County have been receiving a statement backing the recall of Dave Wissel. Here is the fact check:

Dereliction of Duty

FALSE** “This oversight becomes even more glaring when considering that Salida managed to fund a major renovation for their Boys & Girls Club using Opioid funds.”

Colorado was awarded its first round of funds from the opioid about a year ago https://www.cpr.org/2022/09/29/18-million-in-opioid-settlement-money-awarded-to-colorado-communities/ the opportunity to apply for the first round of infrastructure funding was announced on Nov. 1, 2022 applications were due Jan. 13, 2023.

The funding was awarded to the Boys and Girls Club of Chaffee County March 13, 2023 https://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/free_content/boys-girls-club-receives-500k-grant/article_5f0b3728-c351-11ed-b171-47b2e27042fc.html from this article- “The club plans to construct a facility to support the delivery of prevention-based programming to local youth. With a growing membership exceeding 320 kids per year and daily attendance regularly exceeding 100, the need for a new, permanent Buena Vista Boys & Girls Club facility is critical, the organization says.”.

Additionally the Boys and Girls club of Salida FINISHED it’s building campaign in January of 2022 https://arkvalleyvoice.com/boys-girls-club-completes-salida-building-great-futures-capital-campaign/ from this article “Beaulieu said Boys & Girls Clubs will now focus on the phase two goal of its campaign; the Building Great Futures Buena Vista Campaign.”

**Salida funded its major renovation through their “Building Great Futures Campaign” which ended in January of 2022. Additionally, the ability to apply for infrastructure funding started before the General election of 2022 and ended January 13, 2023, THREE days AFTER Wissel took office on January 10, 2023. To be clear Park County and three other counties (Region 15) were awarded a shared lump sum of funds from the opioid settlement in the amount of $503,791.

TRUE** “He had made a commitment to establish a Citizen Budget Advisory Committee and provide Quarterly Budget Reports, yet after 8 months in office, neither of these pledges have been fulfilled.”

**The budget cycle had ended by the time Commissioner Wissel had taken office, so there is no budget to advise on.

FALSE** “Despite campaigning on addressing critical issues like workforce housing, healthcare, mental health, and law enforcement funding, Wissel has shown a complete lack of initiative in generating solutions or even bringing these topics forward in any meaningful work group meetings.”

**Since Wissel has taken office several motions have been approved by the commissioners on the topics mentioned above such as: the Park County Health Improvement plan in which the number one priority is MENTAL HEALTH CARE followed by access to healthcare, an MOU made between the Rural Consortium Workforce Development Board and others to create a skilled workforce (motioned by Wissel) and a grant for substance abuse prevention to Park County RE-2 and the distribution of PILT funds to emergency services and law enforcement. All of these items were supported unanimously by all of the commissioners. Work sessions are off the record therefore there is no record of who has put forth what ideas in a work session.

TRUE** “He openly admitted to achieving nothing during his first 6 months in office and stated that he was still learning the job.”

**Commissioner Wissel did say that he was still learning on the job. Any one of these commissioners is only 1 of 3 and is not solely responsible for decisions made or not made by the board.

FALSE** “His failure to establish a functional county voicemail for constituents to contact him highlights his disregard for engaging with those he represents.”

**All commissioners have a functioning voicemail https://parkco.us/252/Elected-Officials

Conflict of Interest

PARTIALLY TRUE** "It is evident that Dave Wissel, the current County Commissioner and President of the Upper South Platte Water District, is entangled in a glaring conflict of interest. This violation is a direct breach of Rule 2 of conduct for board and commission members. The conflict arises from his dual roles, where the County's property tax funds flow into the Upper South Platte Water District, an entity over which he holds a position of authority. The conflict is further exacerbated by his family business being awarded a lucrative no-bid contract worth $33,000 annually, a decision that lacks transparency and fairness."

**Yes Mr. Wissel is the president of the Upper South Platte Water District. The rest of the statement is vaguely presented. Property taxes are expended in the County budget. In the current budget there is no expenditure of property taxes or otherwise labeled Upper South Platte Water District. In a review of the minutes from 1/10/2023 through currently available minutes no contract has been awarded to Upper South Platte Water District.

Misuse of Power to Intimidate and Interfere with fellow elected officials and Ethics Violations

FALSE** “In a concerning display of misuse of power, the recently elected county commissioner has been captured on video engaging in intimidating behavior towards fellow elected officials during a Commissioner Workgroup session held on June 29, 2023.”

**There was no work session held on June 29, 2023 https://parkco.us/AgendaCenter

Violations of Open Meetings Law – Email

PARTIALLY FALSE** “In a recent incident that raised concerns about transparency and adherence to open meeting laws, Dave Wissel violated these laws through the use of email. He tried to engage in electronic conversations with the two other members of the Park County Commissioners, Thankfully neither of the other two commissioners responded to the emails.”

**Trying to engage other commissioners via email is not violation. If the other commissioners would have responded to the email this would have been a violation, according to the above statement there was no discussion.

Breaches of Code of Conduct

TRUE**“In a display of ethical negligence, Dave Wissel disregarded the code of conduct he is entrusted to uphold. During a public meeting, he resorted to personal attacks and derogatory language against fellow elected officials, showcasing a complete lack of respect and professionalism.”

**Discourse is not always comfortable and sometimes it degrades to name-calling, poor language choices and lack of professionalism. In the end we have a board of County Commissioners that agree 99.4% of the time. Out of 162 motions 161 motions were approved unanimously. All of the commissioners can strive to do better in behavior and language choices.